by David Skolnik

Created on: June 10, 2010

I can't predict what will happen 50 years from now, but for the moment, major league baseball is not a dying sport. Last I checked, Dallas Braden pitched a perfect game for the Oakland A's last month. A couple of weeks later, Roy Halladay pitched a perfecto for the Phillies.

Earlier this month, Armando Gallaraga pitched an "imperfect" perfect game, thanks to a blown call by umpire Jim Joyce on what should have been the 27th consecutive out.

There are some exciting new players who are breaking into the big leagues as early as 20 years old. For the Atlanta Braves, there's right fielder Jayson Heyward, who at 6'5" and 240 pounds, reminds you of the great Willie McCovey. He's 20 years old and hits laser shots 450 feet or more.

Ike Davis was called up from Triple A to the Mets. He's just 23 and hits, fields and runs well. Steven Strasberg of the Washington Nationals pitched his first major league game on June 8 and featured a 100 mile an hour fastball, a wicked 91 mile an hour curve ball and a devastating breaking ball. He handled his first big league assignment with the composure and skill of a veteran. By the way, he struck out 14 Pirates and walked none.

With all the excitement generated by masterpiece pitching performances and talented young players, 2010 is shaping up to be a year of revival for baseball. That's right, not death, but revival. I'll admit that the steroid era has tainted the game of baseball in the past few years, but the game has gotten its act under control. The "bad guys" are being penalized games for violating rules and some would be hall of fame players may find it hard to be accepted.

New stadiums have opened up in Minnesota and in Queens and the Bronx, New York. In Florida, the Tampa Bay Rays have new digs as will the Florida Marlins in 2012.

Major league scouts are searching far and wide abroad for talent and their efforts have yielded a talent crop of Latino and Japanese ballplayers. I'd like to see more scouts search for players in the U.S. and discover more Jason Heywards, Ike Davis's and Steven Strasberg's.

As for the pace of the game, the three and four hour plus marathons can be "sleepy" and sore on the asses, but I'll take those annoyances and distractions in exchange for the game I love.

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